A blog on Singapore defence and the SAF that goes Above & Beyond The Obvious -The views expressed on this blog are my personal views and/or opinion and do not necessarily reflect the views and/or opinion of the Advisory Council on Community Relations in Defence (ACCORD). Follow us on Twitter @SenangDiri

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Without a shot fired, the Singapore Army lost possession of nine Terrex infantry carrier vehicles (ICVs) after Hong Kong customs impounded the armoured vehicles as they were transiting through the port.

This episode has many teachable moments for followers of statecraft and must be played out carefully as the concluding act has yet to take centre stage.

Any diplomatic gaffes, missteps by any party could result in misgivings that linger long after the fate of the SAF war machines has been decided upon. This would have unfortunate consequences for the parties concerned if what could be ascribed to routine/rigorous customs checks is given another spin.

News of this episode - the largest ever seizure of Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) war machines - emerged on Thursday (24 Nov), courtesy of Hong Kong news portal, FactWire. It had reported that up to 12 Terrex ICVs were seized in the container terminal as they were en route from the Taiwanese port of Kaohsiung to Singapore.

Within days, the topic of SAF training in Taiwan has come under the spotlight with many theories postulated.

At one end of the spectrum, some theorised an administrative gaffe as the culprit. More complex interpretations blamed strategic topics du jour such as the South China Sea dispute, the city-state's leanings toward the United States and military training in Taiwan as possible irritants to China-Singapore ties that could have prompted Hong Kong customs officials to impound the Terrex ICVs.

Seen at face value, it may appear that Beijing wants to telegraph its intentions to Singapore by using the Terrex ICVs as a proxy. This theory is not far-fetched, but unlikely. If so, it would indicate that Chinese statecraft has taken on a somewhat dramatic posture when there are other means in the diplomatic toolbox to ensure its messages are transmitted loud and clear.

Whatever the cause, this is not the first time that policy makers in Beijing, Taipei and Singapore have had to confront the matter of SAF activities overseas. Five training incidents that claimed the lives of at least 10 Singaporeans put to test the relationship between China and Singapore, when the Taiwanese venue of SAF war games made the news.

The following incidents were reported by Singapore media and are open source:
In August 1993, two soldiers from 2 SIR who were riding a motorbike skidded and landed in a drain during a night ride. Both were evacuated to Singapore by a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) C-130 aeromedical flight. One of the soldiers died later from severe head injuries.

In April 1994, all four persons on board a RSAF 125 Squadron Super Puma on a predawn flight died after the helicopter crashed into a mountain in Taiwan. The crash was so severe that dental records had to be used as a means of identification. Complicating the Singapore Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) news release was the presence of a Taiwanese military officer aboard the helicopter.

In June 1995, two full-time National Servicemen (NSFs) from 3 Signals died after their vehicle went off a hill in Taiwan.

In May 2007, two full-time National Servicemen were killed when a twin-seat Republic of China Air Force F-5F jet fighter crashed into storeroom located within a Taiwanese military base. Two other NSFs warded at the Taipei Tri-Service Hospital were repatriated aboard a RSAF KC-135R configured as a flying hospital. One of the NSFs died 17 days later at Singapore General Hospital.

In June 2009, an SAF regular was found motionless in his bunk at a Taiwanese military facility. He was pronounced dead in hospital in Taiwan. The ammo tech was in Taiwan to support the SAF's unilateral training there.

Throughout these dark moments, Beijing maintained a dignified silence. It did so in the era when New Media had yet to be invented. And it maintained this stance this century when New Media outlets amplified the news - up until the Terrex episode.

What's more, the pinnacle command positions in Singapore's fledgling air force and navy were occupied by Taiwanese military personnel who served Singapore in the 1970s. ROCAF Colonel Liu Ching Chuan was once Commander RSAF (renamed as Chief of Air Force) while former ROCN officer Khoo Eng An once held the post of Commander Republic of Singapore Navy (retitled as Chief of Navy).

Beijing could have responded robustly decades ago - but did not do so. Inaction could not have been out of ignorance as these command appointments were widely known in diplomatic circles. The appointments have also been chronicled in SAF coffee table books. So China's reticence was done by choice. Why?

In all the years of SAF activities overseas, Beijing's acquiescence has been reciprocated by the Lion City's delicate handling of the matter out of respect to the Middle Kingdom. This approach extends to the HK Terrex episode, where all MINDEF/SAF statements on the matter have left out the very pertinent point of the origin of the shipment. This approach may explain why journalists hounding the ministry for clarity have found themselves facing a wall of silence whenever "Taiwan" appears in their questions.

Thanks to behind-the-scenes statecraft from all sides, a semblance of implicit understanding has been achieved for years. As a result of this balance, SAF activities in Taiwan became an open secret that is watched closely, yet tolerated so long as no one decided to exploit the matter.

This has been to the benefit of all as foreign relations were allowed to flourish on a win-win trajectory without being bogged down or stymied by the awkward matter of SAF war games overseas.

Diplomacy aside, one important dividend that Beijing has cashed in from this matter comes from inculcating its position to tens of thousands of Singaporeans who have trained in Taiwan. This comes about from stern security briefings to those bound for Taiwan not to talk about SAF training there. For the average Singaporean, who is usually apathetic about regional affairs, a trip to Taiwan downloads the essence of Beijing's strategic narrative: That there is only one China. That Taiwan is viewed as part of the motherland. And that foreign nationals are not to dabble in Chinese affairs.

The dividend China has reaped from such awareness is impossible to quantify. Yet, Chinese officials would probably quietly acknowledge it has been invaluable as Beijing reaps the spinoffs for doing virtually nothing. And as the NSFs grow into adulthood and later in life move into Singapore's high society, Singaporeans are ingrained with the dynamics of China-Taiwan relations long after the war games are over.

Now insert the matter of a customs inspection, during which officials simply had to act as they knew FactWire was watching. Add the multitude of rules and regulations that regulate imports/exports, which have to be followed for compliance reasons. Factor in the media glare - more pervasive now with 24/365 New Media channels - and we begin to understand why officials in Beijing have issued the sound bites that we have heard in recent days.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Mr Geng Shuang, said:“All ships that enter Hong Kong should follow the laws of the Special Administrative Region. We oppose countries that have diplomatic relations with us to have any form of official exchanges with Taiwan, including defence cooperation.”

Yes, this sounds harsh and is in all likelihood directed at Singapore. But what more do you expect China to say when asked pointblank for a response to an issue which three parties danced around delicately for decades?

The sound bites reflect the realpolitik that comes about now that the open secret that officials assiduously avoided mentioning has become a talking point. For Beijing not to make motherhood sound bites would signal a pivot from its long-standing position on what it regards as a renegade province - and that is something Beijing will not do.

The question now is how the impasse will be concluded.

This brings us back to the teachable moments.

It could conclude with a takeway that shows that SG-Sino relations are far stronger than what the western media makes it out to be and that Beijing isn't throwing a hissy fit with the Terrex ICVs as a convenient proxy. It could be resolved quietly, without fanfare with behind-the-scenes diplomacy.

If the worst-case scenario pans out with the Terrex ICVs ending up in a Chinese military museum, then this could give moves by regional parties (read: Australia) to have Singapore pivot south more momentum in a faster and bigger way.

How this story ends really isn't for Singapore to suggest as it's a matter of red tape, or should we say, Red tape.

Singapore's Defence Technology Community (DTC) marked its 50th anniversary this month with the launch of a series of books that chronicle the DTC's contributions to the land, naval, air and system of systems domains.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Gentle reminder about the road closures around Lim Chu Kang Road, which commence from 0800H on Thursday 10 Nov'16 for the conversion of the road to a runway. The road will be reopened at 1800H on Monday 14 Nov'16.

Plane spotters/curious members of the public are advised not to lurk around the area during Exercise Torrent as the vicinity of the improvised runway will be screened by Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) security personnel.

At Torrent VI in November 2008, some were briefly detained by the FDS (now known as the Force Protection Squadron).

The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) will be conducting Exercise Torrent, an alternate runway exercise, from 10 to 14 Nov 2016 at Lim Chu Kang Road. This year's exercise will feature the RSAF's fighter aircraft conducting simultaneous launch and recovery operations from Lim Chu Kang Road and the Tengah Air Base runway.

Exercise Torrent provides the RSAF the opportunity to enhance its operational readiness and hone its ability to deliver air power from our public roads. The RSAF works closely with other national agencies such as the Land Transport Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Police Force for this exercise.

Motorists and road users are advised to take note of the road closures in the surrounding areas starting from 8am on 10 Nov 2016 (Thursday) to 6pm on 14 Nov 2016 (Monday). The area will be barricaded to facilitate the conduct of the exercise. The public is advised to stay away from the area for safety reasons.

Monday, November 7, 2016

This was last Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) to take-off from a road.

The 111 Squadron E-2C, 014, participated in the RSAF Alternate Runway exercise, codenamed Torrent VI, in November 2008. The airborne early warning & control aircraft, which had been upgraded with a Singapore-developed Mission Command & Control (MC2) suite, has since been replaced by Gulfstream G550 AEW aircraft.

RSAF warplanes that have also taken part in the Torrent series and since retired include the F-16A, F-5S and A-4SU.

Look out for another significant "last" at the upcoming Exercise Torrent VII, to be held from 10 to 14 Nov'16 at Lim Chu Kang Road.

A book titled Engineering Singapore's Defence was released in Singapore this evening to mark the 50th anniversary of the republic's Defence Technology Community (DTC).

The opportunity to contribute to the first volume, which covers Land Systems, is deeply cherished. Background discussions and editorial meetings took place over many months over the past year and were not to be talked about.

In the above picture, you will see expertise representing armour, artillery, small arms, ammunition, underground and hardened structures, signals, unmanned vehicles and more. The picture represents only part of the team responsible for all four volumes.

Thank you for the tutorship, patience and the trust. This will be repaid many times over.

Hope military buffs will find the book interesting, despite the absence of official confirmation of weapon platforms and systems you may think we have.

The Singapore Ministry of Defence has awarded a contract to Airbus Helicopters for the acquisition of the H225M - Medium Lift Helicopter and a contract to The Boeing Company for the acquisition of CH-47F - Heavy Lift Helicopter.

The new H225M and CH-47F will replace the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF)'s existing Super Pumas and older Chinooks, which have been in service since 1983 and 1994 respectively, and are facing obsolescence. The H225M and CH-47F possess better lift and reach capabilities, and will enable the RSAF to meet the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF)'s lift requirements more efficiently with fewer helicopters and less manpower.

The acquisition of the H225M and CH-47F will ensure that the RSAF continues to effectively meet the SAF's lift requirements for a wide spectrum of operations, including Search and Rescue (SAR), Aeromedical Evacuation (AME) and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations. The replacement aircraft were selected after a rigorous evaluation process.Source: Ministry of Defence, Singapore

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Spent the afternoon at the SG Defence Exhibition, staged at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre to mark the Defence Technology Community's (DTC) 50th anniversary. It was good catching up with old friends.

If you've yet to visit SG Defence, it's worth the trip.... just to hunt for the easter eggs that DTC has creatively hidden among the exhibits. For more about the exhibition, click here

If you can join the dots and read between the lines, you should go home with a fairly good idea where the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is headed in terms of autonomous and unmanned vehicles. If not, then take the quiz and go home with a DTC50 umbrella as a keepsake.

Among the easter eggs is this sketch which comes without a caption. The unnamed artist from the DTC has drawn what appears to be a counter rocket artillery mortar (C-RAM) system that uses a phased array radar to pick up incoming munitions and relays the commands to a mission command and control (MC2) node that then activates C-RAM interceptors launched from box launchers.

Issit just me or does the DTC50 sketch look faintly similar to the one below? :-)

The shape of air warfare has changed substantially in recent years, with twin-seat fighters armed with beyond-visual range munitions making their presence felt in air forces around the region.

With a back seater operating the sensors required for demanding A2A and A2G missions by day or night, fought in contested air space, it's perhaps little surprise that twin-seat F-16s outnumber F-16Cs in the RSAF's inventory.

Friday, November 4, 2016

Generate & Sustain: Republic of Singapore Air Force F-16D+ fighters prepare to take-off from Lim Chu Kang Road during Exercise Torrent VI in November 2008. The 2,500m long road is one of several locations in Singapore that can be reconfigured for RSAF flight operations.

Will be updating the essay below, published by The Straits Times in 2008, for Torrent VII.

Singapore's Air Power: It's not just about fighter aircraft

By David BoeySingapore’s war planes remain young even as the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) marked its 40th anniversary on 1 September 2008.

The renewal of Singapore’s arsenal of war planes – perhaps the most visible sign of the RSAF’s ongoing transformation – should not over shadow notable changes to the way Singapore wields air power.

A review of the RSAF’s transformation to keep its airpower poised and deadly is timely. In 2006, the air force began restructuring itself into five “mission-oriented functional commands” to strengthen integration within the air force and Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) units. This effort was completed by its 40th anniversary.

The Air Defence and Operations Command was first unveiled in January 2007, followed by the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Command, Participation Command (this coordinates air power with land and naval operations), and finally the Air Combat Command and Air Power Generation Command, both unveiled this August.

To appreciate the resources needed to project military airpower, consider this: the RSAF has more squadrons that do not operate flying machines than those that do.

Singapore also has more fighter pilots (including regulars and Operationally Ready National Servicemen) than it does fighter aircraft.

But people (defence analysts and journalists included) tend to be fixated with military aircraft and helicopters, with scant attention accorded to RSAF capabilities that generate and sustain air power.

The result is that one is more likely to come across reports on new RSAF acquisitions such as F-15SG Strike Eagle fighter aircraft, S-70B Seahawk naval helicopters and Gulfstream 550 airborne early warning aircraft, as opposed to a story on say, a runway lighting system bought by the RSAF.

When one considers that there are about 500 different ways to load an F-16 fighter plane with weapons, sensors and fuel tanks, the complexity of the task at hand for RSAF air warfare planners and air force ground crew becomes abundantly clear.

To maximise damage against aggressors, RSAF ground crew must be able to recover aircraft as they return from combat, refuel, rearm and regenerate air strikes rapidly. During operations, ground crew must also check returning aircraft for battle damage and have the expertise to repair damaged platforms under immense time pressure.

A grounded fighter is a target: it becomes a weapon only when it gets airborne.

The ground crew must also factor in enemy attempts to interfere with these vital tasks, for instance, attempts to crater runways to make these inoperable.

Air strikes can involve dozens of aircraft of armed for various roles such as air defence or anti-armour attacks. RSAF ground crew are trained – much like Formula 1 pit crews – to accomplish the turnaround time for war planes and helicopters quickly and safely.

The ability to rapidly regenerate air strikes is a valuable force multiplier. An air force that can get its war planes ready for action twice as fast as its opponent effectively doubles its combat muscle. This is why the RSAF has invested as much attention in building up “non flying” squadrons as it devotes to building up fighter, helicopter, transport and surveillance aircraft squadrons.

There is little point in buying top of the line combat aircraft if the know-how to maintain and modify these planes resides in a foreign country. Or if maintenance problems result in these aircraft becoming hangar queens, being under repair most of the time.

No less important is protection of RSAF air base infrastructure against conventional attacks by artillery or enemy air attack, or by special forces units. Since the 1980s, the air force has taken steps to protect its aircraft by clever use of camouflage, concealment and dispersal at its air bases. Alongside the hardening of squadron facilities were moves to set up specialized units to repair runways and taxiways if these were damaged by enemy action.

As air bases are the vulnerable centre of gravity that an enemy might aim to cripple, Singapore has also drawn up, and practiced, contingency plans to use roads as aircraft runways during emergencies.

Without its fighter aircraft, the RSAF will not achieve victory. Without the dedication of the RSAF’s ground crew, the RSAF could face defeat.

So the next time you see and RSAF fighter soar overhead, spare a thought for the immense resources needed to generate and sustain airpower.

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

When you start your day with a bang, you get the neighbourhood's attention.

Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) personnel are seen here firing noise makers to frighten off birds that could pose a hazard to flight operations.

The scare tactics were used along Lim Chu Kang Road during the Alternate Runway exercise, codenamed Torrent VI, in November 2008.

The use of pyrotechnics and recorded bird distress calls were among the active measures used to clear the area of birdstrike hazards. These were complemented by passive measures strung along the length of the 2,500m long road.

If only it was so easy to scare away things that could make one's life difficult. :-/

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

This nondescript piece of machinery is one of the few things that can stop a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) warplane.

Granted, the pilot must deploy the arrestor hook of the aircraft. But cliches aside, you get the picture.

A competent pilot will probably be able to take-off and land from a straight length of road long enough and wide enough to accommodate his/her aircraft.

To generate and sustain air power safely, and to transform the improvised airstrip into a military asset takes a system of many parts working together.

The equipment above is called a Mobile Arrestor Gear (MAG). It belongs to the RSAF Airfield Damage Recovery Flight, which is part of the Airbase Civil Engineering Squadron, 505 SQN, (formerly known as the Airfield Maintenance Sqn) at Tengah Air Base.

Made in the United States, the MAG is part of the system that enables safe aircraft recovery once Lim Chu Kang Road is cleared for flight operations.

The MAG is deployed in pairs, one on either side of the road. Anchored firmly in the ground, each MAG is connected to one another by a stout cable which rests just above the road surface. Its named is derived from its role in providing an anchor point for the arrestor hooks of aircraft that need extra help in coming to a stop. For instance, during an aborted take-off when full flaps and drag chute may need to be complemented by an arrested recovery using the MAG.

The picture below, taken during Exercise Torrent V in November 2002, gives you some idea of the work done by RSAF Air Base Sustainment squadrons when transforming a public road to military runway.

Personnel from these squadrons are kept busy removing peacetime infrastructure like lamp posts and railings (foreground of the picture) and in deploying the MAG. Landing aids and runway lighting will also have to be set up. A security perimeter comprising a concertina fence and observation points will also have to be deployed around the Alternate Runway to secure the area.

The RSAF's upcoming Alternate Runway exercise, which takes place this month, serves as a capability demonstration by APGC personnel to implement drawer plans for out-of-base air operations expeditiously and safely.

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About Me

Former Defence Correspondent at The Straits Times, a Singaporean English language broadsheet newspaper. ACCORD member. Working on a writing project before moving to staff comms.
KEMENTAH is short for Kementerian Pertahanan, the Malay term for Ministry of Defence. Senang Diri is a Malay footdrill command which means "stand at ease".
This blog is about defence information management, especially defence media relations and strategic media relations. It examines Singapore defence and security matters and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), which I'm very passionate about. I developed a life-long interest in the SAF the moment I attended my first SAF Display at Changi as a kid in the 1970s.
Thankfully, I've made more friends than enemies while researching the SAF. : )
Please visit my Youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ChineseJunk1.
MA in Security Studies, University of Hull (1996) under Prof Colin Gray, Dr Tim Huxley and Dr Eric Grove. US State Dept National Security & Counter Terrorism Program (2004)
Reported on:
* Flying Eagle: Taiwan 9/21 quake relief
* Blue Heron I: Timor Leste
* Blue Orchid I: Persian Gulf
* Flying Eagle: Meulaboh, Indonesia